Which is the largest continent in both area and population?

Asia — Asia covers about a third of the land and holds ~60% of the world's people.

The Pamir Plateau in central Asia is known as the:

Roof of the World — Mountain chains radiate from the Pamir 'Roof of the World'.

The world's deepest lake, located in Siberia, is:

Lake Baikal — Lake Baikal holds about 20% of the world's fresh lake water.

Which crop is the main food crop of Asia, with over 90% of world output?

Rice — Rice dominates Asian agriculture, especially in the monsoon lands.

The wettest place on Earth, Mawsynram, lies in which continent?

Asia — Mawsynram in Meghalaya, India, receives the heaviest rainfall on Earth.

Asia: The Largest Continent — Physical Geography

The big idea

Think first

One continent contains the highest point on land and sits beside the deepest trench in the ocean. What gives Asia such extremes of height, depth, heat and cold?

Asia is the largest and most populous continent on Earth, covering about one-third of the world's land and home to well over half of humanity. Stretching from the Arctic to the equator, it contains the highest mountains, the deepest lake, vast deserts and crowded river plains. Its sheer scale and variety make Asia a high-yield region for geography questions.

Physical Divisions

Asia can be divided into five great physical belts:

The Northern Lowlands: the Siberian plain, drained northward by the Ob, Yenisei and Lena rivers into the Arctic Ocean. It contains Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake.
The Central Mountain Belt: a knot of ranges radiating from the Pamir Plateau (the "Roof of the World"), including the Himalayas, Karakoram and Kunlun, enclosing the high Plateau of Tibet and the cold Gobi Desert.
The Southern Plateaus: ancient blocks of the old Gondwana land, comprising the plateaus of Arabia, the Deccan (India) and Yunnan.
The Great River Valleys: fertile, densely peopled basins of the Tigris–Euphrates, Indus, Ganga–Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong and Hwang Ho. The Ganga–Brahmaputra builds the largest delta in the world.
The Island Groups of South-East and East Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan), mostly mountainous and volcanic.

Asia holds the world's highest point (Mount Everest) and the deepest ocean trench, the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific.

Check yourself

From which plateau, called the Roof of the World, do the great central Asian ranges radiate?

The Plateau of TibetThe Deccan PlateauThe Plateau of ArabiaThe Pamir Plateau

Climate and Vegetation

Because of its size and range of latitude and altitude, Asia experiences almost every type of climate. The dominant feature of southern and eastern Asia is the monsoon. In winter, dry offshore winds blow outward. In summer, rain-bearing onshore winds bring heavy rainfall. Mawsynram in Meghalaya (India) is the wettest place on Earth. Parts of the south-west get almost no rain at all.

Vegetation follows climate in broad belts from north to south:

Tundra along the Arctic coast: moss and lichen, with reindeer.
Taiga: a vast belt of coniferous (softwood) forest.
Steppe: temperate grassland.
Desert vegetation in the hot Thar/Arabian and cold Gobi/Tibet deserts.
Monsoon forests (teak, sal, sandalwood) and equatorial rainforest in the hot, wet south and south-east.

Check yourself

Travelling south from Asia's Arctic coast, which order of vegetation belts would you cross first?

Tundra, then taiga, then steppe, then desertTaiga, then tundra, then desert, then steppeSteppe, then taiga, then tundra, then desertDesert, then steppe, then taiga, then tundra

Resources and Agriculture

Asia is a great farming continent. Rice is the main crop (over 90% of the world's rice is grown here), alongside wheat, millets, and cash crops like cotton, jute, sugarcane and tea. Farming ranges from shifting cultivation in the hills to intensive agriculture in the crowded river valleys.

It is also rich in minerals and energy: iron ore, manganese, tin, mica and coal. South-West Asia (Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia) holds vast petroleum reserves and is one of the world's great oil regions.

Check yourself

Over 90% of the world's output of one crop is grown in Asia. Which crop is it?

WheatTeaRiceJute

Peoples and Countries

Asia is the most populated continent, with about 60% of the world's people and an average density far above the world average. Population is densest in the plains of India, Bangladesh, eastern China, Java and Japan. It is sparse in the deserts, Siberia and high plateaus.

Three of the world's four most populous countries (China, India and Indonesia) lie in Asia. Notable nations include China (the most populous country, whose main river is the Hwang Ho or "Yellow River"), Japan (also called Nippon, "Land of the Rising Sun"), and the South Asian states. Asia is the birthplace of major civilisations and religions.

Check yourself

Which statement about Asia's population pattern is correct?

It is dense in Siberia and sparse in JavaIt is dense in the river plains of India and eastern China, and sparse in the deserts and SiberiaIt is dense in the Gobi and sparse in JapanIt is spread almost evenly across the continent

Key takeaways

Asia: largest and most populous continent (~1/3 of land, ~60% of people)
Five physical belts: northern lowlands, central mountain knot (Pamir, Himalayas), southern plateaus, great river valleys, island arcs
Holds Everest (highest point), Lake Baikal (deepest lake), Mariana Trench (deepest ocean)
Monsoon climate dominates the south/east. Mawsynram is the wettest place on Earth.
Vegetation belts north→south: tundra, taiga, steppe, desert, monsoon and equatorial forest
World's leading rice producer. Rich in petroleum (South-West Asia).
China, India and Indonesia are among the world's most populous nations

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